Beccs U13s knocked out in Kent 7s Cup semi final

Sunday 13th April 2014

Kent Sevens. Beccehamians RFC Under 13s at Canterbury RFC

In those extremely wet and horrible days of late January, it was easy to think that we would never again feel the warmth of the sun on our beloved Beccs team shirts. Yet here we were, spinning up at our county capital and it was all looking more like Catalonia than Canterbury.

Warm high sun, light zephyr breeze and firm pitches (nearly, what you would call, hard) all with that expectant buzz as 23 teams prepared to play competitive, Seven-a-side rugby, probably for the first time since the players themselves were only seven years old.

In reality we guessed that the likes of Wells and Elts had (totally against the spirit of Sevens mind) been practising; and there was even a rumour that Elts had been in some sort of National Comp, but our 12 Beccs boys fresh from tour success were certainly looking the part.

All looking the part except for Ben S who, free from the shackles of tour rules and kit regulations, turned up without shorts! A trip to the Canterbury kit shop saw him donning a slightly small pair of very old faded second hand shorts. Cost of £2 and a bargain to boot considering the next pair up were £16 and had the Canterbury RFC logo on them.

Of course all the other usual suspects were there and that not surprisingly meant our first match would be against Beckenham. (Only our 54th meeting in competition since Under 7s). A slightly confusing system (this was Kent after all) meant that we were in a qualifying pool of 6 teams but would only play 4 games so we were not going to play Westcombe Park - although they would play everybody else we played. Clearest thought from Robin was win all your games and you would be in the cup quarters. Lose all games and go home. The playing pitches had all been reduced in size by the 5 metre lines all around to keep the games tight and to reduce the dominance of the absolute speedsters which in hindsight probably suited Beccs. Conversions were to be the formality of drop goals between the posts no matter where the ball was touched down.

POOL 2
Beckenham RFC
Receiving possession Beccs managed to keep the ball for almost 5 minutes without ever actually being tackled! The problem was that we were slowly edging backwards. The ball was passed up and down the line but the Beckenham defence refused to break its tight cover. Nearly intercepted, nearly forward passed but Hey Nine tenths of the law etc As long as we had the ball we couldn’t lose. Then just as it started to get scary (parental heart failure at passing in our own dead ball area) Ben S ran at the Beckenham line, dummied and they let him through. Amazingly his Shorts carried him the length to score.

Beccs then played in Beckenham’s half, stopping their attacks before the half way line but failing to penetrate the still strong Beckenham defence. The supporters breathed easy up to half time. 7-0

Five players on and Five off was maybe to big a change; Beccs appeared to still have control but suddenly a ball popped out against the head of a scrum, Freddie gets the scrum half, but his panic pass reaches the 10 and he ducks as both Luke and Miles go high. With Beccs over committed Beckenham move it quickly out wide where their speedy wing breaks another tackle to run in and score. A minute later the whistle goes and we have dropped two points. (Not won, one) 7 - 7

Medway RFC
A nervy but strong start with a multitude of scrums that the referee insisted on being perfect. Finally as the half wore on Beccs dominance began to tell and Ben S stepped through from centre to score, we didn’t really need half time but this time with fewer substitutions, we just carried on where we left off. Dan was again becoming the thorn in Medway’s soft under belly. He was tackled as he broke against the defensive line out wide; but not held, he proceeded to get up again and run a battering line to score. Medway came straight back with their big fast centre taking advantage from a not 10 yard start. Miles then made a forceful run down the wing breaking tackles as he went: when he was finally dragged down his pop pass found Ben who made Short work of finishing it. Medway were done for and just before the whistle Dan took full advantage, ripping the ball out of their ruck and running it in pretty much unopposed. 28 - 7

Ashford RFC
Despite the 40 minute wait to play; we turned up straight away and bullied Ashford all around the pitch. Through the hands to Jed, out wide, he immediately ran out of play and scored over the touch line. He was still playing on the full pitch and had forgotten that we were playing with the five yard lines as our touch area. Dan grabbed their resulting throw in but was stopped just short. Fittingly we eventually contrived to push over the line with Bertie and Ben keeping Dan, the ball carrier, in touch. Just like a properly executed maul. Half time whistle again stopped our momentum.. Ashford scored almost straight from the start with their big centre crashing through what would kindly be called brave attempts, but were in fact missed tackles. The pressure was on and we, the supporters, knew we couldn’t afford another draw if we wanted to go through to the cup. The best bit of rugby to date gave us the much deserved win. From receiving the kick off Kunle danced down the left side, he was stopped, but staying on his feet drew their players into a maul. * This turned to a ruck and the ball was passed at pace across the pitch, midfield players committing the opposition before passing was the key, and this gave Kai the space to beat his man out wide and score. From the sides it all looked so planned and pre meditated but it was just a highlight of our players’ rugby instincts slowly coming to the fore. The game was closed out without further incident, and without Ashford ever looking like they might manage to come back in to it. 14 - 7

Blackheath RFC
Revenge? Of course not. Anyway that was 15 a side and not the same thing at all… still it would be nice….

Blackheath did look confident, a week after their win against our squad a week or two ago. We were up for it, this was the pool decider but our draw put us at a disadvantage. A draw would give the cup run to Blackheath.

From the start Ben S nearly catches Miles’ hanger kick. He would have been through to score. If only he wasn’t so shorts. Messy scrappy pressurised play continued as both sides trying to play quickly, knocked on and gave up possession. Beccs stronger in the loose and making most of the running, but Blackheath with clever scrums and looking dangerous out wide; both sides defending in a proper 7s line across.

Then a tactical change from Beccs’ coaches. (not a common occurrence) Ben the shorter moved to the centres and Freddie coming on at scrum half. Inspired, almost magical, Wizardry at work….. Whatever it was, Blackheath immediately had their best attack of the match so far but from the resulting line out deep in our own 22 quick exchange at the front between Kunle and Scott, back to Freddie, through the hands to Ben who shortens his stride and steps inside through the gap and away. As he enters the Blackheath 22 he is stopped by the quicks and spun but staying on his feet he pops to Luke who finishes in the corner with two more quicks hanging off him. End of the first and we are cautiously thinking about the cup.

Beccs were right on it straight from the start with Dan making a purposeful handoff and run deep into their half switching it through the hands to the opposite wing, a ruck, then back to Dan who seeing his path covered pops a short pass to Ben. His marker commits, he steps inside, wiggles past a missed tackle and weaves the short yards to the line. Two up, surely the game is in the bag. Unnoticed, either at half time or immediately after that second try, Blackheath put on their really quick winger. From kick off they spin the ball to him and he, in space, is deadly, scoring from the halfway line with ease. The danger recognised is one thing, stopping it is another. Beccs try to hold onto possession but an offside from Ben coming in on the short side of the ruck turns the ball over. Their scrum half takes a quick tap and although both Miles and Luke get near him the speedster scores in the corner.

Seconds to go…Blackheath are in the cup and we are in the plate. Kick off and Kunle scrapes the bouncing ball off the floor and tosses it to Dan. In a move never been seen before, Dan steps backwards away from his tackler, he keeps moving backwards until the lad starts to fall forwards and then Dan pushes him to the ground. Now he goes forward and committing the midfield passes to Miles who fires a pass to Ben. Accelerating around and handing off his marker he goes up the line faster then anyone thought possible. Then he slows, waits for the quickie to catch him, hands him off with a short arm jab and runs in the try. Whistle on Miles’ kick puts us through to the CUP quarter final and leaves Blackheath slightly shorter on confidence. 21-14

Cup Quarter Final (Pitch 2)
Maidstone
A new pitch, slightly higher up the site, past the bar (not celebrating yet) across the main car park and into the very warm slightly rarefied air of the Cup quarter finals. The view from here back across the city was a treat. A fair amount of hanging around before the start, but our boys looked extremely relaxed in that hazy almost summer sun, and they looked just as relaxed when Maidstone arrived to play us. With all due respect, it was over in minutes. A long Maidstone over throw from the first line out saw Ben S pick up a bouncing ball and run it home from in his own half. He may have stepped past a few tackles but it did seem a tad easy.

Kick off for the restart then:- tackle by Dan, ruck and steal by Ben, pass to Luke, pass to Miles, pass to Scott, pass to Henry, (all going right to left) pass to Looping Luke who carries forward and is tackled, Scott rucks over and draws 2 men to knock him off. Dan picks up the loose ball and passes to the Ghost (Harry) who drifts past his man gets tackled but pops to Luke who passes to Miles (now going right to left) who passes to grey shorts who runs into the corner unchallenged. 7 man rugby in 30 seconds.

Maidstone did come back at us and scored an intercepted try but not before Dan had his just desserts before half time. Second half we shut the game down and kept it tight. A close run by Jed almost saw a try but it was Kunle with one of his dancing classics that delivered the coup de grace. 28 - 7

Cup Semi-Final (Pitch 2)
Tunbridge Wells
We weren’t nervous about taking on one of the county’s big guns. We were in great form and having rested and played everybody in the quarters, the feeling was that we may well topple them from their lofty perch. The bounce of Miles’ start looked as if it might go straight to Ben but then it did what rugby balls do and bounced in the opposite direction and out of play. Wells then showed us their class; well worked line, through the hands at pace, popped from the tackle to a fast winger who ran away from Luke, around Scott and inside Ben to score.

We answered with a flurry of passes and line breaks slowly working up field, looking comfortable with ball in hand but slightly unsettled by their commitment at rucks and mauls. They came in off their feet and didn’t roll away, but the awarded penalties stopped our momentum and gave them time to get their defensive shape back.
Dan got to 10 yards from their line when a loose ball was hacked away and Miles chased back to fall on it. He took a nasty knock to the head for his troubles and by the time he had picked himself up and cleared his thoughts Wells’ quick winger was going in again.
We had a mountain to climb and with the first half gone we needed a big start to the second. We didn’t get it with Wells stealing the ball at the breakdown then seemingly wrong footing the whole team as they ran an arc into the corner. The game was up and when the next phase ended in a scrum that took 3 resets (and 2 and a half minutes off the clock) we knew it was pride and no longer the cup that was at stake. Wells defence was sharp and in your face with very little space to stand in let alone exploit. Beccs retained possession well and finally Miles with very quick hands managed to commit 2 players and put Luke away for our try. We raged from the kick off and won the ball back in their 22 but they were pinged at the ruck and although Dan crashed over on the tap the referee called it back because they were offside and then got fussy as Freddie tried to take it quick again. We were only allowed to take it a full minute later when everybody in the Wells defence was in the right place. We nearly pushed over but Wells got to the ball illegally and desperately threw it into touch. Our last attempt went to ground as Ben threw a fast pass just short to Miles out tight on the wing. 7 - 21

We had had a really good tilt at the Cup and on another day Wells might have been beaten, we certainly were in the ascendancy at the end but you just can't give a class outfit that sort of start in a game of shorts.

Apologies for the late posting but * indicates where I was up to on the Tuesday after. My computer then crashed, ended up going to the menders, and by the time I got it back there was the little matter of the Kent Plate Final to write up. Had to write the rest with video back up to jog the mem banks. At least there is now a record of that fine day.

MS